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Hollow Seclusion - ???/New Bodhum – 00X AF
-Back at Historia Crux. I wonder where Hollow Seclusion will restart me
-Whew. From the choice with Lightning, not the beginning of the area. I say no this time.
-Serah thinks of all her friends’ hard work. Snow’s, Noel’s, Lightning’s, Hope’s, Fang’s and Vanille’s. “I couldn’t desert them to live in this world of dreams. I couldn’t betray them.”
-Lightning fades like smoke.
-A voice calls out to her, a mystery voice. A woman, trying to help her. Yeul? Lightning? Alyssa?
-I make my way across the zone. The barrier is gone now, and I can leave town.
-Huh. The gate that used to be at the far east side is gone. Someone’s there.
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?? IT’S VANILLE
-Vanille’s dreaming inside the crystal pillar. She’s meeting us in our dream.
AND FANG TOO, WOOOOO! Though this is actually her first meeting with Serah.
-Fang uses her staff to rip open an anomaly. “We’re just showing you the way out. You’re the one who made the decision.”
-Now it’s Serah’s turn to help Noel, stuck in his own dream. What will his fantasy look like? I’m betting on a domestic life with Yeul in a populated city.
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A Dying World – 700 AF
-Not exactly. It’s literally called “A Dying World.” A rocky world with a red sky. No Mog here.
-I find Noel by the corpse of a behemoth he just killed for “the birthday feast.”
-He runs to Serah… and phases through her. Doesn’t even see her.
-Caius is here, dream!Caius. He and Noel are buddy-buddy here. Casual friends.
NOEL: “Why does there have to be one true guardian? I don’t get why I have to replace you.”
Unfortunately, he has to kill Caius to become the Guardian. Doesn’t want to do that, but it in spires Noel to start training with dual swords.
NOEL: “I wanted the power of chaos that all guardians were given.” But Caius left before he had the chance to test things.
-Mog’s here! Phased out, but it’s something.
-I continue into the village of the farseers. There are townsfolk here, faded and red.
-Literally every person I use Mog to phase in immediately drops dead. Wtf.
[Later edit: This exemplifies one difference between Serah’s dream and Noel’s. Serah’s was designed to be an ideal fantasy. That doesn’t seem to be the case here. This seems instead to be a recreation.]
-Noel finds dream!Yeul. It’s her birthday. “As long as you and Caius come [to the party], it’ll be great!”
-She fades too. And Noel is left with his own regret, not being able to save her.
[Later edit: Noel really seems to know this is a memory. Sometimes he relives it, other times he remembers it as if he’s lucid and knows it’s the past.]
-Noel appeals to Caius. They should duel, but not to the death. If Noel wins, they’ll be co-guardians.
[Later edit: Noel here reminds me strongly of Zack from FFVII: Crisis Core. They both have this happy puppy energy, specifically directed at being there for their friends.]
He wants to travel with Caius and Yeul somewhere more populated. Go where the people are.
-Caius again urges Noel to kill him. Etro’s heart beats inside him. If it stops, the chaos of Valhalla will be unleashed. Chaos that can warp time, warp the past.
-Caius suddenly draws his weapon. Battle time. Why does he want to die to Noel so badly?
-They fight, and I win with Noel… or not lol. I won, but in canon I guess Caius won? That was weird.
CAIUS: “I shall go to Valhalla. I will kill the goddess and set Yeul free.” We’re seeing the start of Caius’ plan. This is also why Caius left, abandoning Yeul to save her. Then Yeul and Noel were the only humans left.
-Soon after Caius left, Yeul gets falls fatally ill.
This is rough to watch. Noel becomes quite literally the only person alive.
NOEL: “Each time a seeress sees a vision of the future, she loses a piece of her life. She dies while she is still young.” Ruh oh. Is Serah destined for a similar fate?
-He only figured this out when Yeul died. Caius hid that truth from him, and he felt pissed at Caius.
-Noel then left to seek Valhalla, gain power as Etro’s chosen warrior to change fate. All he cared about was Yeul’s happiness. He even welcomed death or fading from the world.
-This is another part of the section where Noel’s reliving his past, not a fantasy. How is this his heart’s desire, as Caius said?
-Serah follows Noel, walking through this dead world, seeking the gate of the goddess or a release of death.
-Etro took a sort of mercy. She pulled him at this point into Valhalla to meet Lightning.
-But this is just a memory. Serah intervenes now. She grabs onto him, and he’s released from his dream.
-One of those giant monsters appears. Gogmagog. It goes down quick.
SERAH: “Let’s go, Noel. It’s time to change the future.”
-But he says no. His dreams reminded him – the power to see the future is a curse. Seeing the future killed Yeul at only 15, and Serah has that power too. What I feared.
She hasn’t seen as much as Yeul, but if they alter the past and she sees more future visions, she’s screwed.
-Noel couldn’t save Yeul, but he’s got a chance to save a different seeress now… lol. As if Serah would accept that help. She’s so close to her goal that she’ll push just a little further.
Please please PLEASE don’t let this game end with Serah dying or having a dramatically abbreviated life.
-OOH! As I explore my way back to the town, found a monster-in-a-box: a Golden Chocobo.
-And wow, it’s really good. Stronger stats than my current Dragoon commando.
-In town, I really want this treasure cube in a wall. Need mog toss though.
-There’s a statue in town of three women atop each other. I think this symbolizes the line of seeresses.
-It houses the Oracle Drive. We activate it, and see Yeul. “You don’t have to cry, [Noel]. We will meet again.”
-WOOHOO MOG’S BACK! His spirit had been in the Void Beyond, and he now has a message for us from Lightning. The truth about Caius? Let’s hear it.
-The farseer guardians who protected the seeress were all l’Cie. Which fal’Cie do they serve?
-Etro saved Caius from l’Ciedom, just like Serah. He’s not l’Cie, but he became immortal. He’s protected the seeress for centuries. It’s this Heart of Chaos – “Etro’s own heart” – giving him power.
[Later edit: WAIT WAIT I JUST HAD AN IDEA: What if Snow became a l’Cie because he somehow took on the role of Serah’s protector?! She’s sort of a seeress, after all. Etro could have given him the l’Cie brand and power without necessarily being a fal’Cie herself.]
-This makes Caius especially dangerous, because he’s heard all the seeress’ prophecies. Lot of knowledge.
-The datalog hints at a possible game ending: “If the new Guardian has enough strength of will, he can release the Heart’s power and put an end to immortal destiny. If he wavers, however, he will be enslaved in chains of chaos, and become the latest in a line of eternal servants.”
We’re heading to Valhalla, and Caius is 99% going to be the final boss. If we beat him, Noel takes the Heart of Chaos, and then will have a choice to make.
-One last thing first: try throwing Mog down that well.
-It’s tough, especially with Noel playing defense. Nets me an “Ultima Brand” fragment, the name for Caius’ Heart of Chaos brand.
-There’s still a whole western half to A Dying World 700 AF that I can’t access currently. Probably some alternate timeline coming in the future, or maybe something I access with a wild artefact.
-Noel, Mog, and Serah head to the spacetime distortion.
SERAH: “I’ve traveled the world of dreams, and at last I know the truth… I know I can face any challenge. I’ve found it, Lightning… Hope… in the midst of despair.”
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Next time: through the distortion.
